Harvard Physicist Jenny Hoffman Just Ran Across America — Setting a New World Record!
When you think of a record-breaking ultrarunner, you might not picture a Harvard physics professor.
But in November 2023, Dr. Jenny Hoffman—a Harvard experimental physicist and quantum materials researcher—did something extraordinary.
Starting from San Francisco City Hall on September 16, she ran an astonishing 3,032 miles (4,880 km) all the way to New York City Hall, arriving on November 2, 2023. Her total time: 47 days, 12 hours, and 35 minutes — officially verified by Guinness World Records as the fastest crossing of the United States on foot by a woman.
That’s more than 63 miles a day, every single day — the equivalent of running two and a half marathons daily for nearly seven weeks straight.
She battled 44-mph headwinds in Nebraska, lightning storms in Nevada, freezing nights in the Midwest, and endless hills across America.
Behind her achievement lies a mind just as powerful as her endurance.
Dr. Hoffman isn’t just an athlete — she’s also a Harvard physics professor whose research explores quantum materials and superconductivity at the atomic scale. Her day job involves scanning electron microscopes, not open roads. Yet she balanced teaching, family, and world-class science while preparing for this monumental run.
Supported by an all-female crew, she burned roughly 8,000 calories per day, slept just 5–6 hours nightly, and rotated through 11 pairs of shoes.
Her data-driven approach and unwavering focus turned the journey into a living science experiment in discipline, endurance, and human potential.
Dr. Hoffman shattered the previous women’s record (54 days, 16 hours, 24 minutes by Sandra Villines in 2017) by over seven days — proving that strength of mind can conquer both equations and exhaustion.
From the lab to the open highway — Jenny Hoffman showed the world that science and spirit can run side by side.
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